Just like yesterdays post about github todays post is inspired by the post “Apache considered harmful” only this time its about the availability of tools and how this helps to focus on the job.

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GitHub · Heroku · Open Source · ServerGrove · Service

Following a tweet of Pierre Joye yesterday I happened to stumble about Mikael Rogers blog post called “Apache considered harmful“. It’s not about the Apache server but the Apache Software Foundation, it’s inner workings and rules. It’s about how things are done and about how things could be done nowadays.

Now I can’t really speak about the ASF but I was struck by this one sentence.

For a moment, let’s put the git part of GitHub on the back burner and talk about the hub.

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GitHub · Open Source · Social Coding

Write a script that tracks some values in Google Analytics per page. After a few previous attempts (and believe me there have been a lot more!) I finally found something that did exactly what I was looking for.

Google Analytics – Social Interaction Analytics!

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AdSense · Google Analytics · Optimisation

As a little follow-up post on this weeks analytics posts I thought I present to you a little javascript thingy that eases the setting of Custom Variables on a page where you have no control over and no idea if Google Analytics was using the async or traditional code or whether it is located at the top or the bottom of the page.

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Custom Variables · Event Tracking · Google Analytics · Javascript

I am currently working a lot with Google products like Analytics as you might’ve seen in my post about the Custom Variable Character Limit. One thing I had to figure out yesterday was how to track custom variables with a javascript that might be executed after the Google Analytics page track pixel was already fired?

You can do it with Event Tracking.

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Custom Variables · Event Tracking · Google Analytics · Javascript

Yesterday I was toying a few ideas with a colleague. We were talking about platform strategies and how they could serve our business. Platform in this sense come down to service oriented architectures (SOA).

I instantly wondered: isn’t tying it all together a perfect use case for Symfony?

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ESI · REST · Service · SOA · symfony

Maybe you have heard about Google Analytics Custom Variables. They are a cool feature that allows you to build freaky segmentations when you need it. Basically you can save a few key-values per page impression, visit or visitor.

But beware not to save too much.

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Google Analytics · WTF

You’ve probably been there as well. You said: Lets build a software that we use for all our clients. A big do-it-all CMS or similar. With every client project your software grows and gains cool features. New features that are attractive also to old clients.

They both use the same software but how can you get from one point in time to the other?

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Modularity · Separation of Concerns · Symfony2

Open Source communities are amazing. Never experienced such a helpful and dedicated environment anywhere else. Despite scratching their own itches Open Source minded people tend to teach, answer and help other people and there’s no money involved.

I always try to get something of that mindset into corporate communities.. and fail.

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Business · Community · FOSS · Open Source · OSS

I’ve been discussing much lately with a colleague about different business strategies a business can take. Along these lines this colleague came up with this brilliant quote:

If you start focussing on the costs you’ve already given up!

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Business · development